Kasatochi volcano in Alaska is erupting

Frank Taylor of the Google Earth Blog has passed along a message from John Bailey of the Alaska Volcano Observatory regarding the Kasatochi volcano, which is erupting as we speak.

According to John, the island is a bird sanctuary and two scientists were evacuated. He has sent along a time-lapse KML of the ash, which you can download here. According to the AVO site:

An eyewitness account from a marine vessel (in the vicinity of Kasatochi and heading in the direction of Adak) reported ash fall (particles up to pebble size), spectacular lightening and thunder, and total darkness tonight between the hours of 21:00 and 23:15 AKDT.